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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27647017">The Not So Imaginary Friend</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/spicedcryptid/pseuds/spicedcryptid'>spicedcryptid</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>spicedcryptid's WIP Harry Potter fics [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who &amp; Related Fandoms, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossover, Harry barely speaks English anymore, Imaginary Friends, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Parent-Child Relationship, Possessive Behavior, Psychic Abilities, Sonic Screwdriver, The Master is a Bad Influence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:00:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,752</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27647017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/spicedcryptid/pseuds/spicedcryptid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Like most children, Harry had an imaginary friend once, unlike most children, his stuck around for a lot longer, thanks to his childhood with no friends.</p><p>Also unlike most children, his imaginary friend held a rather big secret, he wasn't imaginary, and he was extremely dangerous.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Master (Doctor Who) &amp; Harry Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>spicedcryptid's WIP Harry Potter fics [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021498</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Cupboard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His plan to escape the Time War had been almost fool proof, put himself under a chameleon arch and send his human counterpart to the end of the universe.</p><p>It had gone rather well; he'd been found by the locals and they'd looked after him.</p><p>But, well, he'd been very comfortable in his life and had gained some kind of purpose in it too, or so much of a purpose as one could have at the end of everything, perhaps it was born out of a need to pay them back for the kindness they'd shown the random naked kid they'd found.</p><p>And so, the Master, the one in the fob watch, watched on, as his watch was never touched, never contemplated for more than five minutes, never opened.</p><p>Eventually, he grew bored.</p><p>So, when one day he found himself being tugged away from his watch and placed somewhere in the late 1900s on Earth, he rather welcomed it.</p><p>Oh sure, he didn't have his physical body, and he could feel said body and the watch from where he was, but he existed in a physical plane, although, his hand did phase through the wall.</p><p>The place he'd found himself was small and cramped, and he quickly realised it was some form of storage room, likely for shoes and coats.</p><p>And then a small voice interrupted his thoughts.</p><p>"Um, excuse me, how did you get into my cupboard?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Appalling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Master stared at the child, and the child stared back.</p>
<p>The child was male, very small, and was sat on an old ratty mattress that barely fit in the small space. His hair was black, his eyes green, and he wore clothes that were much bigger than he was.</p>
<p>He blinked, the child blinked back and grasped at the thin blanket he had to go with everything else in the area.</p>
<p>"What do you mean your <em>cupboard?"</em> although he already knew the answer.</p>
<p>"It's my cupboard because freaks don't deserve rooms."</p>
<p>He sneered.</p>
<p>Humans were appalling.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Names</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What's your name?" he asked the child, hoping to distract him from his question, because he didn't know how he got there, nor did he like to admit that he didn't know something.</p>
<p>"Freak." he stated, then tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. "Or maybe Boy, I don't know, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon like to change their minds."</p>
<p>Both surprisingly and unsurprisingly, this statement caused rage to flare up inside of him, unsurprising as just about anything could cause him to feel rage, but surprising as it was in the defence of a small human child he had just met.</p>
<p>"No." he found himself saying and crouched down in front of the child. "No, I refuse to call you as such, they are not names."</p>
<p>Names were a big part of Time Lord culture, although they were downplayed as much as possible, they were a big part of one's identity and often told a story about the kind of person they were. Many changed their names multiple times throughout their lives to reflect how they'd grown as an individual.</p>
<p>Withholding someone's name from them just seemed so <em>wrong</em> to the Master, even if the one whose name was being withheld was a human.</p>
<p>Perhaps especially so, considering they barely ever changed their names and would often live with their birth name for life.</p>
<p>The child stared at him with wide eyes that told of no-one caring enough to ever tell him that.</p>
<p>The Master knew while staring at the child, just as he knew that it was Tuesday the 13th of November, in the year 1984, that the existence of this child would bring about great changes.</p>
<p>For good or bad had yet to be seen, and, after spending less than an hour with him, he found himself growing... <em>attached,</em> something dangerous for sure.</p>
<p>"I am called the Master, and I shall call you by 'Omen'."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Age</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"Boy!"</em>
</p>
<p>A shout came from outside the door, and the Master heard the sound of locks coming undone.</p>
<p>The child which he'd named Omen scrambled to stand up as the door swung open to reveal a rather obese man with the most disgusting facial hair he'd ever seen, and he'd seen some disturbing facial hair.</p>
<p>"You have five minutes to use the bathroom, then you'll be mowing the grass and weeding the garden, then you're to cook our dinner and vacuum the house."</p>
<p>The Master stared at him, appalled.</p>
<p>"Yes, Uncle Vernon."</p>
<p>"And remember, if you don't finish, you don't get food, ungrateful burden that you are."</p>
<p>With that, the man stepped out of the way, and Omen trotted up the stairs to use the bathroom.</p>
<p>The Master stepped out into the hallway, noting that the older man couldn't see him while he slammed the door through him.</p>
<p>Interesting.</p>
<p>When the child came back down the stairs, he followed him outside to the garden and watched in horrified fascination as he began to mow the garden.</p>
<p>With a lawnmower that was more than twice his size.</p>
<p>"How old are you?"</p>
<p>Omen looked up from where he was pulling at a wire to turn on the machine.</p>
<p>"I'm four." he whispered, then turned back to his task.</p>
<p>Four.</p>
<p>The child was<em> four</em> and they were making him do a job that was obviously meant for an adult.</p>
<p>Disgusting.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Lullaby</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He'd closely followed the boy throughout his day, as he slaved away under his relatives <em>oh so loving</em> care.</p>
<p>He'd 'met' Omen's cousin, who was surprisingly obese for another four-year-old, honestly, they were feeding him to an early grave at this rate, and had watched as he dropped an expensive and ugly vase and blamed it on Omen.</p>
<p>Omen, who had been in another room at the time, preparing vegetables for their dinner.</p>
<p>And they'd believed him.</p>
<p>In the end, he'd finished all his 'chores' by the end of the day and had been given food.</p>
<p>Half a ham sandwich, an apple because, according to his Aunt's thoughts; <em>'they were cheap, and he does need some fruit or vegetables if we don't want him to die',</em> and half a glass of water.</p>
<p>Why half a glass? Because he'd been working in the garden, and as such had access to water from the hose through the day.</p>
<p>Then he'd been witness to his Uncle<em> 'teaching him a lesson about breaking our valuables',</em> after the 'lesson', he'd been given fifteen minutes in the bathroom to <em>clean up.</em></p>
<p>After that, he was locked back into his cupboard as the other three members of the family all sat around to watch the television.</p>
<p>The Master would later deny that he'd lain down next to the child, singing an old lullaby that his mother had once sung to him when he was scared or in pain when he was younger, and he had most definitely not pet the hair of the only thing that he seemed able to touch.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Language</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He'd been with Omen for around two weeks when it had happened.</p>
<p>Although perhaps he shouldn't have been too surprised, small children were rather <em>impressionable,</em> after all.</p>
<p>Any time the child had to interact with his Aunt or Uncle, he felt the need to insult, threaten, or swear at them, something which he could not say in any Earthen language, for the obvious reasons of Omen picking them up and saying them to his relatives.</p>
<p>If he'd spoken in English and Omen repeated it, he'd be punished immediately, as they would understand what had been said.</p>
<p>If he'd spoken in another Earthen language and Omen repeated that, his loving family members would most likely want to know what he'd said, and while not the sharpest knives in the kitchen, they'd more than likely be able to pick up a translation dictionary.</p>
<p>So, he'd just gone with his home language, partially out of homesickness, and partially because he just wanted to speak his native tongue.</p>
<p>Of course, he had honestly forgotten that little ears were often <em>very</em> curious and could also pick up languages like they were a pretty pebble they'd seen on the beach.</p>
<p>Omen had turned to him one morning and had asked. "What does <strong>'tear your dick off and fuck you with a blowtorch'</strong> mean?"</p>
<p>The Master had choked on air, something which surprised him, as he hadn't realised that a non-physical conscience could even choke.</p>
<p>"I'll tell you when you're older." he wheezed out, staring at him in both surprise and amusement.</p>
<p>Omen nodded with as much seriousness as a four-year-old could give and solemnly stated. "It's like the baby thing."</p>
<p>He hummed in an almost agreeing tone and eyed the boy up, a thought popping into his head and itching away at him.</p>
<p>What if he taught Omen Gallifreyan?</p>
<p>It'd give him something to do, and he'd be able to speak his own language to someone else.</p>
<p>Plus, it'd probably piss off the child's relatives but be harmless enough that they couldn't punish him for it.</p>
<p>He grinned.</p>
<p>"You want to learn another language?" he asked aloud.</p>
<p>Omen blinked up at him, confusion visible on his face.</p>
<p>"You know, when I speak differently, and you can't understand me?"</p>
<p>"Really?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm bored and it'll be interesting." he shrugged carelessly.</p>
<p>He beamed up at him and nodded his head quickly.</p>
<p>"Can we? Can we do it now?"</p>
<p>The Master's grin widened, and he gave a chuckle.</p>
<p>"We can."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Learning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Omen, the Master found, was a quick learner.</p><p>He could memorise things rather well for a human and found it easy to adapt his concepts due to his younger age.</p><p>This of course meant that the Master decided to slowly teach him more than just his own language.</p><p>First, it was basic reading and writing, of both English and Modern Gallifreyan, no need to have him learn Old Gallifreyan or even Circular.</p><p>Then he began basic maths, by the time he remembered that humans used base ten, Omen had already picked up base seven well enough that it'd be pointless to change it and continued as he was.</p><p>It wasn't like it really changed anything but how he counted.</p><p>Besides, it was much easier to learn things about time if one counted by sevens, it was just more practical.</p><p>And so, slowly he gave him more to learn, and he never once backed down from any sort of challenge.</p><p>So what if he was teaching him to tot standards? It would be better for his education in the long run.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Terror</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Master was used to seeing the terror on the faces of his enemies, he was used to seeing it on his subjects.</p><p>He was used to seeing it on just about everyone he encountered, he was, after all, not a nice person.</p><p>But he found that he did<em> not</em> like seeing Terror on Omen's face.</p><p>It was unfortunate that he could not do anything about the ones causing his terror, that he couldn't pick him up and take him off somewhere safe.</p><p>The only thing he could do was offer comfort through the night and talk to him whenever no-one was around.</p><p>Some nights he was a bit more broken than usual.</p><p>And one of these nights, somewhere along the line, he vowed that one day he would make Omen's relatives feel the terror they put him through daily.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Parasite</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time that he noticed something dark lurking around the mind of Omen, he'd not really paid it any mind, after all, he didn't exactly have the greatest life, and as such it could be considered almost... <em>normal,</em> at least for him.</p><p>It had only really stood out to him when Omen complained of having a <strong>'not-headache in his scar'</strong> while practising his speaking one night.</p><p><strong>"Can I look?"</strong> he'd asked, frowning, the tense used in 'look' suggested a look in his mind.</p><p>Omen nodded.</p><p>"Then lay down, I will be as gentle as I can."</p><p>The child did just that, and the Master was almost in awe at the level of trust he gave to him.</p><p>Something so... <em>exploitable...</em></p><p>He shook his head, willing the thought to go away, he would not, <em>could not</em> act on it.</p><p>He pressed his hands to either side of Omen's head and pressed his forehead up against his.</p><p>The freefalling sensation of entering another person's mind willingly overwhelmed him for a moment, but he quickly drew himself together and set out to see if he could find the source of the headaches.</p><p>And oh boy did he find it.</p><p>Omen had a <em>psychic parasite</em> in his mind.</p><p>The Master growled, quite literally, and quickly set to work forcing it out.</p><p>There was a hole left behind in the weak mental defence that most humans had once the thing was gone, but he made quick work of it, patching it up to his best standards, which also meant that he had to go around the rest of the still intact defence to bring it up to the same level.</p><p>Of course, he did conveniently forget that humans don't exactly have defences across their minds that were <em>that</em> strong.</p><p>
  <em>Oh well.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Holiday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There weren't many holidays that were celebrated by the Time Lords, but even he knew that the Christian celebration of 'Christmas', taken from the Pagan ritual of 'Yule', was at this point in time a widespread celebration of family.</p><p>It was of no surprise then that Omen was forced to cook the whole meal and was given nothing but two thin slices of turkey, a spoonful of carrots, a single roast potato, and a glass of orange juice in return.</p><p>He was then promptly thrown into the cupboard and listened to his relatives enjoy their presents and watch films.</p><p>The Master knew that he was used to it, but tears still filled the child's eyes at the treatment.</p><p>He wasn't family to them.</p><p>He gathered the boy in his arms, staring down at him as he let out quiet sobs, careful to not be too loud so that his relatives didn't hear him.</p><p>A heavy possessive feeling stirred inside of him.</p><p>Omen didn't need them, he had <em>him.</em></p><p>And when he got back to his body and back to this time after, he would have Omen.</p><p>They wouldn't <em>need</em> anyone else.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Accent</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Omen was an amazingly fast learner for a human child.</p><p>His Gallifreyan was as fluent as it was going to get for his age, and was quickly surpassing his English, slowly becoming his dominant language.</p><p>He'd also managed to pick up the<em> cutest</em> little accent from him, the Master hadn't even realised he'd been talking with his regional dialect until he'd heard Omen's accent give way from his little proper British accent to a much softer Gallifreyan one.</p><p>It drove his aunt and uncle insane as they didn't know where he'd gotten it from.</p><p>"Stop talking like that, you Freak." was one of the new common phrases that they came out with.</p><p>"Like what?" Omen would respond, confusion painting his words.</p><p>The accent was much more noticeable in his English and it made the Master's hearts melt a little bit.</p><p>Omen got in trouble for it, of course.</p><p>Nothing new there.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Control</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a bright Spring day, Omen didn't have chores for once, Vernon was at work, Petunia was out gossiping with the neighbours, and Dudley was at nursery, something that the Dursleys refused to pay for him to go to.</p><p>He was thrown out of the house for the day with the orders to not come back until the sun started to go down, as they refused to get him a watch so that he could come back at a set time, not that he needed it thanks to the Master, who knew what time it was all the time.</p><p>The Master was marching him into the little woodlands surrounding the neighbourhood in search of small animals such as birds and squirrels.</p><p>They stopped walking once they came across a bird's nest in the treetops, with a bird nesting in it.</p><p><strong>"Alright, Omen."</strong> he began.<strong> "I want you to reach out with your mind just like I showed you and have the bird fly down to you."</strong></p><p>The Master had been unhappy with just teaching him the normal educational things like maths, science, history, and languages, and had decided to add things such as protection of the mind, psychic projections such as telepathy, hypnosis, and mind control.</p><p>This exercise was meant to help him recognise different minds around him, even if he wasn't reaching out to them, and to also give him a feel of what it was like to take control of another being before he decided to use it on something like a human, which would be far more difficult thanks to their stronger minds.</p><p>The Master had spent many nights prompting Omen's mind to reach out to his own, he knew that humans had a tiny amount of psychic energy and would occasionally produce people with just a little more than the others which lead to things like premonitions.</p><p>He also knew that his meddling with the boy's natural mind defences had not only pressed the <em>on button,</em> so to speak but had also pushed it beyond its normal confines.</p><p>So, while the rest of humanity was crawling, Omen was already running.</p><p><strong>"I did it!"</strong> he excitedly told the ghostly man, waving his cupped hand, which had a robin perched in it about excitedly, careful not to drop it.</p><p>He gave him a gentle smile.<strong> "So you did, now see if you can send her back."</strong></p><p>And so the day went.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Dad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With every day that passed, the Master grew more and more angry with Omen's relatives.</p><p>The longer he spent with the child the more attached and possessive he grew of him, and in turn, he also grew more hateful to most of humanity.</p><p>The boy's aunt and uncle could abuse him, his cousin bully him, and their neighbours just bought their lies, even though the boy was so obviously not a troublemaker, so obviously abused.</p><p>Humanity as a whole was crooked and spiteful, broken and twisted, but occasionally there were the one or two people who really were kind, helpful, and loving.</p><p>Omen was one of them.</p><p>The world would break him, but he could teach him to defend himself from it, and if he did shatter, then he would be there to put him back together.</p><p>He knew his mere presence would corrupt the boy, warp him,<em> change</em> him, but better that than broken.</p><p>Normal children didn't force small animals to dance for them in the forest.</p><p>But then again, normal children weren't punished by their aunts and uncles for existing, forced to live in a cupboard.</p><p>There was a sleepy sigh from the boy who was laying on his lap, a bruise slowly forming across his face in the shape of a handprint.</p><p>The song that he'd been humming paused for a moment as he frowned at it.</p><p>Omen wouldn't be allowed out of the house until it was gone.</p><p>The boy shifted and he continued his humming, thoughts running rampant in his mind as he continued cursing out humanity.</p><p><strong>"Love you, Daddy."</strong> Omen sleepily muttered out before finally falling asleep, just as the Master's mind shuddered to a halt.</p><p>He slowly turned his wide-eyed gaze onto the sleeping child.</p><p>It made sense, he was the closest thing to a parent that he'd ever had, but he just hadn't expected it.</p><p>He'd thought that he'd always just be the Master to the boy, the strange ghostly man who'd appeared in his cupboard and started teaching him things.</p><p>In a few years, his watch would most likely be opened, and with it, he would seemingly fade from existence to the child.</p><p>He would become just a memory to him, the imaginings of a lonely little boy.</p><p>Sure, he'd sworn to get revenge against his relatives on his behalf, but he'd never need to know it was him, and sure, he'd thought of coming back to that time to take off with Omen, but in reality, he'd have been content with just watching him from afar as he lived out his life, but now...</p><p>Daddy...</p><p>Dad...</p><p>
  <em>Father...</em>
</p><p>Now he just couldn't let the boy go, could he?</p><p>He leant down and pressed a kiss against his forehead, a mad glint in his eyes for no-one to see.</p><p>
  <strong>"I love you too, my little Omen."</strong>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Birthday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Omen had just turned five.</p><p>His relatives celebrated by getting him to cook more than double their normal daily food and a cake, refusing to let him have any.</p><p>The only good thing to come out of the day in either of their opinions was the fact that Dudley had fallen down the stairs and broken his arm, leading for a family trip to the hospital, chucking Omen out of the house as they went.</p><p>They spent the day wandering the woods and came across a little shed.</p><p>It looked to be abandoned, but inside was a generator and a radio of some kind, hooked up to some aerials.</p><p>The Master looked over the electronics, checking what parts it had and nodded.</p><p><strong>"Well, we might as well start your first lesson on electronics then."</strong> he clapped his hands together and grinned at Omen, ushering him into the little wooden chair. <strong>"The first thing a Time Lord learns to make is a Sonic Screwdriver, a handy little thing to have on hand for sure, as it can do any type of screw, which means you don't need to have a bunch of different types of screwdrivers."</strong></p><p>Omen nodded along to his explanation.</p><p><strong>"Once you learn enough about electronics, coding, and wiring, you can change features about it, for example, adding a laser function, a lockpicking function, or even a stunning function."</strong> the Master scowled for a moment. <strong>"Or you could do whatever the fuck the Doctor's done with theirs."</strong></p><p>Omen tilted his head, familiar with the Doctor from the Master's many conversations with him, it was likely best not to ask about what they'd done, they would be there all day otherwise.</p><p><strong>"Right."</strong> the Master said, clapping his hands once more. <strong>"Now then, the first thing you need to do is to strip the casing of this radio."</strong></p><p>That evening, Omen returned to Privet Drive with a sonic screwdriver hidden in his pocket, it was small, and very obviously made by someone inexperienced, but it was his and he'd made it.</p><p>The Master was not so secretly proud.</p>
  </div></div>
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